Fall 1997
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Fall 1997 |
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Part aerospace engineer. Part computer scientist. Part technician. Those were the qualities that went into Rose-Hulman’s successful attempt to construct a computer-controlled helicopter for the 1997 Aerial Robotics Competition, conducted at Disney World’s Epcot Center on July 14. Rose-Hulman’s 20-member rookie team tied for fifth place (out of 10 teams), placing higher than Georgia Institute of Technology and former champion University of Texas-Arlington. Carnegie Mellon University finished first. "This was an outstanding effort by a first-year team. We had flight with several systems working. That’s something many of the competitors couldn’t accomplish," explained Faculty Adviser Wayne Padgett, who has attended several past competitions, organized by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The mission sounded deceivingly simple: designing and constructing a flying vehicle that was capable of remotely mapping a field of randomly placed barrels. The vehicle also had to perform various image recognition tasks and be able to retrieve a sample disk. Adding difficulty to the task was the fact that no human control was allowed after the vehicle was started. Rose-Hulman students chose a helicopter because of its manueverability and familiarity as a remote-controlled vehicle. It was 6 feet long, 18 inches high and weighed approximately 20 pounds. On board was a miniature computer that controlled flight and communicated with a ground computer. In flight, a global positioning system receiver assisted in locating the competition area, a simulated toxic waste dump. Then, a miniature digital camera and image processor identified the contents of barrels at the dump paying particular attention to their hazardous material labels. Teams are allotted one hour to complete the task. Points were awarded for each drum correctly identified, the elapsed flight time, retrieval of a sample disk from a drum, and overall success of the mission. Teams also were rewarded for design innovation, safety and producing a research paper about the project. Jeremy Conner and Friso Schlottau were co-leaders of Rose-Hulman’s team. Other members were Brian Beaty, Ralf Brandt, Brian Degnan, Dung Duong, Luke Gilbert, Troy Harriman, Harald Hoffmann, Trevor Jones, Tim Langham, Steve Leyland, Bob Leavell, Jason Lockard, Jason Matthison, Brian Monacelli, Justin Morey, Mike Olson, Pete Papavasiliou, Perry Peters, Chris Prince and Ben Thompson.
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